Ready to Fly Fun T-HAWK

[checksix]

Has anyone used the Ready to Fly Fun T-HAWK?

http://www.readytoflyfun.com/thawk3chrtf.html

I would like to know if this is a good plane or if there is something comparable or better for a lesser price.

Thank you.

[aeropal]

If $170 shipped (http://www.northstarrc.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=22_62_107&products_id=628) is within your budget, also look at the EasyStar. Wing comparison:

[jutty]

T-Hawk is basicly a beefed up Aerobird Challenger. They took Some of the good mods and incorp. them. Not the Zip tie motor saver but the tail boom is built better and they have a upgradable landing gear. Flies about the same. Only really big issue I see is that they don't sell the part except on the internet or by phone.

[johnhay73]

I fly my T-hawk every day. It has been very forgiving as I learn. I alternate between basic aerobatics (loops, sloppy rolls, stall turns, imelmans) and gliding. It does both fairly well.

When you master the controls it handles some fairly decent winds. When the air is calm, it glides so calm and straight, it's beautiful. I got into some thermals above the field I fly at and I had to force the thing to come back down.

I have been fairly reckless with the plane, and have crashed it more than my share. However, there is still no significant damage to speak of.

I haven't flown any of the Aerobird line. The t-halk allows you to replace the esc, receiver, and servos, individually. Also, the t-tail on the T-hawk has push and pull control rods. The Aerobirds just have fishing line pulling on one side of the control surface and an elastic band pulling on the other. These two points made me choose the T-hawk over the Aerobirds.

[AEAJR]

The T-Hawk is one of the 4 RTFs I usually recommend to new flyers. It is an excellent first plane, has a great package including spares and it flies very well. If you like it, buy it with confidence.

The Easy Start RTF, mentioned earlier is also an Excellent choice.

You have two good ones there. Get one of those and you should do very well.

[Matt]

I used my T-Hawk for aerial photography and general flying. It was the first plane I bought with landing gear. Landing and touch and go's add to the fun. She is stable and the RTF is a good deal. I did collapse my wing when trying to do a roll. Loops weren't a problem. I suggest putting strapping tape on the wing to help it hold. The support "rods" in the wing don't go out far enough.
Matt

[uglyplane]

I have been recommending this plane and I have never flown one...always seemed like a good deal to me and with conventional electronics, you cou could upgrade or reuse them...

[rcgary2*]

rcgary2*What company makes the T-Hawk and how much does it cost. I have a Easystar which flies ok, however this sounds even better. Comments?

[johnhay73]

I used my T-Hawk for aerial photography and general flying. It was the first plane I bought with landing gear. Landing and touch and go's add to the fun. She is stable and the RTF is a good deal. I did collapse my wing when trying to do a roll. Loops weren't a problem. I suggest putting strapping tape on the wing to help it hold. The support "rods" in the wing don't go out far enough.
Matt

I crimped the wing while pulling it out of a tree. It happened just at the end of the "rods". It subsequently folded at that spot during a loop, like yours. To fix it, I taped on a 8"X1"X1/16" aluminum bar on the underside of each wing, centered on the end of the existing wood inserts. The repaired wing has been put through its paces, without any signs of giving up. Works like a charm.

[AEAJR]

rcgary2*What company makes the T-Hawk and how much does it cost. I have a Easystar which flies ok, however this sounds even better. Comments?

www.readytoflyfun.com (http://www.readytoflyfun.com) They also have other planes. All good values

[NotAnAceYet]

I've been flying my T-Hawk for a year now - great plane - fly's a bit fast when you're first learning - but it's very tough. Floats well - in fact - into the wind, it's hard to get back on the ground without giving it a bit of down elevator.

[rcgary2*]

What is the best way to add wheels to the EasyStar flier.

[Jeremy Z]

What is the best way to add wheels to the EasyStar flier.

You don't really want to put wheels on this plane. It is made to hand-launch, and belly-land. Landing gear ruins the aerodynamics of a good plane, IMO. Retracts add too much weight in planes this small.

The real bonus is being able to fly in the winter. You just glide in, nice and smooth, and watch it slide forever.

My TwinStar II will rise off of the snow with no landing gear.

Just put clear packing tape on the bottom of the fuselage, and forget about it.

[Jeremy Z]

I started on a T-Hawk too. Great plane. It can really take its beatings well. Like another member said, it flies beautifully in the wind, once you have some experience. Upgraded landing gear on this plane is a waste. I bought it and didn't even bother with it. It flies better without landing gear, and with its super-tough plastic fuselage, it is just begging to be belly-landed.

I've had mine treed once, bent both wings more than once. Broke the original tail feathers twice, and drilled it into the ground at full throttle more than a few times. The poor thing. It still flies well and bears its battle scars proudly.

I ordered mine with two spare batteries, and I'm glad I did. By the time I've flown them all, I've had enough. I go home, charge them up while checking WattFlyer, and go out for another round.

To answer your original question, no, I don't think there's a better learner plane for the money. I guess I'd call it a tie with the EasyStar. The EasyStar is perhaps a bit more forgiving and soars better. But out of the box, it won't handle the wind as well as the T-Hawk. They use the same motor and the T-Hawk is a lot smaller & lighter.

Watch out for the RTF EasyStar package. It usually comes with a crappy AM radio. This is going to be more prone to RF interference than even the cheap 27 MHz radio that comes with the T-Hawk. If a trucker goes by and keys up his CB with 100W amp, you're going to lose control until he's done trash-talking, which can be a while, hehehe.

The zip tie motor mount saver is a 10 minute mod to do yourself, so don't consider that a plus for the Aerobird. I use zip-ties to hold all the components to the inside of the fuse, as they tended to come loose with only the double-sided tape when I drilled it into the ground.

The EasyStar will probably have a more durable tail than the T-Hawk. (in case you flip it over when you crash) But the T-Hawk includes spares and its only two finger nuts to remove to replace it. Their parts are only mail order, but they don't try to rape you on shipping. I messed around at their site for a bit, and found that they charge $6 shipping no matter which parts you order. So wait until you break all your spares beyond repair before ordering more. (and believe me, it is pretty hard to break them that much, hehehe)

For what it's worth, I tried the EasyStar prop on my T-Hawk, and it doesn't work as well. The cheezy-looking T-Hawk prop is just perfect. The EasyStar prop is a Gunther, which a smaller diameter, but higher pitch speed. This means that it will probably fly faster, but will not climb as readily or accelerate as fast. My flight times went down, and the top speed wasn't helped at all.

Have you trained on the free FMS simulator program yet? If you do that, your T-Hawk or EasyStar will thank you. I was determined to teach myself. I'm a very well coordinated person, but @@$%^ if I didn't just crash and crash that poor T-Hawk until I put in about 12 hours of sim time. Learn from my mistakes and save your spares for trees and such. ;)

[Jeremy Z]

checksix, aeropal's attachment reminded me that Hobby-Lobby.com has Wing Dragons on sale for $90, ready to fly.

As I recall, they have a two stick radio, which is going to make it hard to transition to a real (Mode 2) radio later on. They also have a 4 hour wall charger, instead of a proper AC/DC peak one-hour charger. It doesn't include spare parts or batteries. I don't know if the electronics can be transferred to other planes.

But if you're trying to get airborne for the absolute minimum money, it's an option.

The trouble with starting out is that to really do it right takes a few hundo. But people really want or need to start without dropping that kind of coin sometimes. (myself included)

[Jeremy Z]

Cons to the T-Hawk: The 27 MHz "toy frequency" radio system takes hits occasionally. The stock radio and/or receiver only has a few throttle settings; it is not fully proportional. The tail feathers are not as strong as the rest of the plane, so if you flip it or catch them on something, they'll probably break. This is a lot more rare than high-speed nose-ins.

Cons to the EasyStar: It has a lower power:weight ratio, and so will probably not handle wind quite as well as the T-Hawk. Nose-dives are going to be more damaging, as it will scrunch up the nose. (The T-Hawk nose is invincible, and the battery is well protected with blocks of styrofoam)

The EasyStar has a bigger following. There are several web pages dedicated to it, which include mods.

If you need parts in the US and your local shop does not stock Multiplex, you'll have T-Hawk parts before you have Multiplex parts. They don't have the market penetration that GWS & Great Planes do in this country. (as an example, my TwinStar II is grounded right now, because I can't get wing joiners ANYWHERE. I left them in a school parking lot when I was packing up last weekend, and when I realized what I'd done and went back a few days later, they had already been mauled by a school bus)

This is something to consider. GWS planes are not built or designed quite as well as Multiplex's, but you can jolly well get parts (for cheap!) when you need them.

Holy moly. Time for bed. That's what I get for taking a nap at 5:30 PM...

[AEAJR]

T-Hawk is a good plane. Don't hesitate to get one.

[gtxkid]

Hi I'm new and both me and my friend and i have t-halk's. There is an updated fuselage and wing out now, there is now a motor plate on the inside and the. tail boom has a screw thew it. We have hitec hs-55 servos madusa brushless motors, casle creations speed control, 11 volt lipo"s
Thanks from Greg

[elgreko]

how do i get the FREE fms simulator program? i need all the help that i can get
thanks elgreko

[AEAJR]

There are a number of free RC airplane simulators. FMS is probably the best known. Not as fancy as the expensive ones but it works and can really help you get your aileron timing down. It will also help you learn to fly the plane toward you.

The links offer other simulators plus sites that provides a cable that can
connect to the trainer port on your radio so you can fly the sim using your own radio or buddy box. I also list some exampels of low cost fully functional radios that can run the sim AND fly a plane. I believe buddy boxes, which are not functional radios, can also be used to run a simulator. Finally a low cost used FM radio that has a trainer port would be an excellent way to run your sim. I purchased a used Futaba conquest 4 channel FM radio for $10 to use as a buddy box and to use on a simulator.

Then there is always the chance that someone at the club will loan you an
old radio with a trainer port so you can practice.


FMS Flight simulator Home Page
Free download
http://n.ethz.ch/student/mmoeller/fms/index_e.html (http://n.ethz.ch/student/mmoeller/fms/index_e.html)

Parkflyers for FMS
http://gunnerson.homestead.com/files/fms_models.htm (http://gunnerson.homestead.com/files/fms_models.htm)

Glider RC - Another sim. Have not tried it.
http://glider3d.free.fr/index_en.html (http://glider3d.free.fr/index_en.html)

CRRCsim - Free flight simulator for MacOS/Linux/Windows
http://crrcsim.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php?n=CRRCsim.HomePage (http://crrcsim.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php?n=CRRCsim.HomePage)
CRRCsim - FAQ
http://crrcsim.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php?n=CRRCsim.CrrcSimFaq (http://crrcsim.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php?n=CRRCsim.CrrcSimFaq)

ADAPTERS

Flight simulator adaptor for Hitec/Futaba and JR radios $10
http://www.gwsexpert.com/index.php?cPath=21_152 (http://www.gwsexpert.com/index.php?cPath=21_152)

RC Trainer
http://www.rctrainer.com/ (http://www.rctrainer.com/)

Virtual RC parallel port
http://www.virtualrcflight.com/details.htm (http://www.virtualrcflight.com/details.htm)

Multiple Sim Cords - Simblaster
http://www.simblaster.com/ (http://www.simblaster.com/)

Sim cables and other items
http://www.clonepac.freeserve.co.uk/products.htm (http://www.clonepac.freeserve.co.uk/products.htm)

USB Simulator cables
http://www.customelectronics.co.uk/ (http://www.customelectronics.co.uk/)

SIMS, Cables and Controllers
http://stores.ebay.com/Toms-RC-Simulator/Simulators.html (http://stores.ebay.com/Toms-RC-Simulator/Simulators.html)


Convert a game controller to a flight sim controller
http://www.rc-airplane-advisor.com/usb-controller-flight-simulator.html (http://www.rc-airplane-advisor.com/usb-controller-flight-simulator.html)

Brand new, Low cost full function 4 channel radios that have trainer ports
that will fly your plane AND act as a simulator constoller with one of the
above adapters. These prices do NOT include servos, receivers, etc.

GWS 4 Channel Radio - $48
http://www.gwsexpert.com/index.php?cPath=15&osCsid=b99b4e88e5041ce7062d893b7b73ea28 (http://www.gwsexpert.com/index.php?cPath=15&osCsid=b99b4e88e5041ce7062d893b7b73ea28)


GWS 4 Channel Radio w/ FMS cable and CD - $69
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=34056&item=5916217443 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=34056&item=5916217443)

Hitec Laser 4 - $60
http://www.servocity.com/html/4-ch_laser_4_fm_systems.html (http://www.servocity.com/html/4-ch_laser_4_fm_systems.html)


Buddy Box with trainer cord - $35
good for SIM, but will not fly a plane by itself.
http://www.horizonhobby.com/Shop/ByCategory/Product/Default.aspx?ProdID=AIRVG400TR (http://www.horizonhobby.com/Shop/ByCategory/Product/Default.aspx?ProdID=AIRVG400TR)

[yanai]

BananaHobby offers the BLUE BIRD with similar spec. for $64. Is this a real bird?
Thanks,
Ofer